Computer networks, specifically the Internet, have become a central and lively place for conducting business. Many financial transactions are conducted on the Internet and large quantities of personal information are stored on the Internet. Conducting business and personal affairs has become very common and communication between people and entities has been streamlined as a result of the advancements in communications technology, such as the Internet.
Almost as quickly as the Internet developed, fraudsters began preying on users and consumers. Fraudsters capitalized on the opportunity to fool users and consumers into disclosing personal and financial information. For example, fraudsters create websites that mimic an entity requesting personal or financial information from a user and/or consumer. Phishing arose quickly as a means of acquiring sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, credit card information, social security numbers, and other unique information that may be associated with a user's online account with a target entity. Due to the sensitive nature of the information that is oftentimes required to access an online user account at a financial institution, a user is usually required to enter a username and password to be permitted to access the user's online account where the user may conduct financial transactions, pay bills, transfer money, and the like.
Many fraudulent activities, including phishing, carry criminal and civil punishments in most countries. Further, some users refrain from using online services due to the risk of the identity, financial, or other personal misappropriation that may be result in identity theft, stolen money, and other serious financial and personal injuries. In response to an increasing demand from consumers and users, many entities offer online services to streamline the customer's and user's experience in transacting business. In offering online services, the entity must protect its customers and users and must set up security precautions to prevent the user's personal and financial information from being accessed, seen, or stolen by a fraudster.
Fraudsters may target specific industries and thus may target individual entities, such as financial institutions offering online banking services. The target entity may have control over the disclosure of a user's personal or financial information that may be controlled or maintained by the target entity (e.g., such as encrypting data communicated over a computer network that contains a user's sensitive information). However, the fraudsters implementing a phishing attack may send a phishing message containing a link to or a pointer for a phishing website that emulates the website of the target entity. Once the target entity detects a phishing website, the target entity requests that the service provider disable the phishing website (i.e., the entity maintaining the phishing website and through which the fraudster may display the phishing website to users). The request usually takes some time to evaluate the request and confirm that the request is valid.
Meanwhile, users may access the phishing website and continue to be exposed to fraud during the evaluation process. The service provider for the phishing website may display an error message in place of the phishing website or may direct or point the user's request to an error message website. During this evaluation period, the users are still exposed to the fraud and the fraudsters may continue to prey on users.
When a user receives an error message, the user is oftentimes confused and may conclude that the legitimate target entity website is not operating properly. Further, the user may be alerted that suspicious activities are present and may lose confidence in accessing online user accounts and in conducting business and/or financial transactions with the target entity. Therefore, a method of detecting fraud is needed that is capable of educating a user and helping to prevent fraud that occurs outside of the control of the security measures that may be implemented by a target entity.